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Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Busy Dog or Lazy Pooch? Your Pet's Activity Level and GIVEAWAY

Do you wear a FitBit or other activity tracker? You know they're helpful in managing your activity goals. But have you ever wondered if your pet is getting enough exercise?

Petey, photo by Roy Gumpell

Are your walks together long enough? Is he running around in the yard or just laying in the sun? When you leave the house, is she actively playing or is she sleeping on your bed? If only you could have a FitBit for your dog!

Now you can, with the Poof activity tracker. AND, we're Giving Away Two Poof Activity Trackers at the end of the blog!!

Poof sent us two activity trackers to sample and review, and two to give away. We tried out the blue Bean for Petey, and the green Pea for Ernest.

Setting Up
At first I was a little intimidated because there seemed like a lot of parts. But the instructions are really clear and simple, and the parts are very straightforward.

THE BEAN- uses a USB cable to charge.
THE PEA- uses a battery

So the first step would be to determine which you would prefer, to charge or change the battery. Also, the Pea is a little bigger than the bean. The pea battery lasts up to 6 months and then you need to purchase a new battery. The bean charge lasts 6-8 weeks, then you need to recharge, which takes 4 hours to get a full charge--but you don't need to purchase anything additional. So, Question #1- would you rather have the convenience of a battery that lasts longer? Or, the cost-efficiency of recharging, but you have to remember to do it more frequently?Getting Started
Once I put the pieces into the holders and attached them to the collar,it was time to download the app. You simply sign into the app, then hold the phone near the Poof on your dog's collar, and it connects! Easy peasy!

Reading the Data
Checking the data is quick and easy. I was able to enter multiple dogs on the same app, and could easily toggle back and forth between Ernest and Petey. At the top was the activity level for that day, broken into hours, and a graph to show light, moderate and high activity levels. Below that was a graph to show light and deep sleep. Then there as a bar graph showing calories. You can even enter feeding information to determine calories consumed and calories burned.

Uses for Poof
Poof is a great tool for
*helping manage your pet's weight.
*monitoring sleep patterns
*determining if they're active or sleeping when you're out of the house
*discerning if the pet sitter/walker exercised your pet for the appropriate time
* realizing if your pet is active at day care
*understanding changing activity/sleep patterns that can indicate health concerns
*In addition, Poof has a cool feature that maps your pet's location. Plus, Poof can send out alerts for your lost pet. Question #2-Which way would you find Poof most helpful with your pet?

The Results
I've been having fun observing the difference in my senior dog Ernest's activity, vs. my puppy Petey's activity level! As you can imagine, Ernest has many periods of deep sleep, and mostly light activity. Petey, on the other hand, has fewer periods of sleep and a majority of high intensity activity! So far I have enjoyed seeing that my dogs basically sleep the whole time I'm out of the house, and sometimes they are awake and active in the middle of the night when I think they're sleeping. lol. It's a lot of fun to check the Poof app at the end of the day and see how they're doing!

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Would you like a Poof activity tracker for your pet? I'm giving away one Poof bean and one Poof pea! Just enter the Rafflecoptor below!

In answer to question #1, I'd really prefer a rechargeable battery. I try to recycle used batteries, but even with that, I know not every part of them gets recycled. I try to do my best for the environment - and my family, including my furbabies - so I like not having to throw out batteries.

I like rechargables, I have a rechargable light that goes on her collar when it's dark. Got 3 more for fosters. I need a tracker to keep up with what they do while I at the Rescue. Sometimes my house is a gladiator arena of toys. Lol

i guess it depends, recharging is much easier, however, if your dont have a place to plug in/no electricity would be a problem. i like that the battery last longer however, it depends on how hard it is to replace.

i think Poof would be great to see what my girls are doing when i am not at home. that way, i can talk to the one that has made the mess in the house or destroyed something. i can find out who is running around or just sleeping. i also like the map location in case the girls get out by accident.

Q1...longer battery but honestly I would be ok with either.Q2...keeping track of weight and activity would be such a big help. I try to have Twinkie healthy and go on walks knowing if I was over doing it would be a blessing.

Question #2: I have a mix of rescues but, I am more inclined to want this for my oldest lady, Eva. She isn't fat but, very solid and I feel she would just be lazy all day if I didn't make her exercise LOL